The former chief adviser to the military-controlled interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, on Sunday asked a parliamentary panel to read the report of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, formed by the emergency regime, to probe the clashes between army personnel and students in August 2007.
He made the suggestion in his reply to the letter sent to him by the concerned parliamentary subcommittee, asking him to appear before it today (Monday) for giving information on the clashes.
In the reply, sent through email, Fakhruddin did not mention whether or not he would appear before the parliamentary body, said the committee’s chair, Rashed Khan Menon.
‘Go through the report of the one-member commission, formed by the interim government to find out the reasons behind the incident and the persons responsible for it,’ said the statement. ‘The independent Judicial Inquiry Commission’s report was timely and detailed, and I trust that anyone interested in those events will find the report illuminating.’
He also said that he addressed the nation at that time, informing the people of his decision to constitute the one-member inquiry commission headed by Justice Habibur Rahman Khan.
‘The student-army clashes
took place over watching a football match on the Dhaka University campus, but the students continued their protests despite the best efforts of concerned authorities and the government’s decision to remove the army camp from the campus,’ he added in the statement.
The former chief adviser also said that the government issued a press note expressing ‘deep regret’ for the incident and announced formation of the judicial inquiry commission.
’The next morning, on Aug 22, I was informed that despite our quick and decisive actions, the situation remained unstable. Agitators continued to damage and destroy property and burn vehicles,’ said the statement.
Fakhruddin said that his government, as per the decision of a meeting of the council of advisers on August 22, imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew and shut down all public universities to restore law and order and ensure the security of lives and property.
‘The subcommittee may kindly go through the enquiry report which should be available with concerned ministry,’ said Fakhruddin in his letter.
The chief of the subcommittee, Rashed Khan Menon, told New Age said that Fakhruddin had sent a statement to the committee in response to the letter sent to him last month and had failed to mention whether or not he would appear before the committee.
The parliament secretariat on Match 29 sent letters to Fakhruddin Ahmed and former army chief Moeen Uddin Ahmed, asking them to appear before the subcommittee on April 18 to give information about the incident.
Moeen on Wednesday also sent his statement to the committee, expressing his inability to appear before the subcommittee.
The parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry on August 19 last year formed the subcommittee to investigate the clashes on August 2007 that were a prelude to countrywide turmoil, mostly in the universities.
On February 27 this year, some DGFI officers, including former Chief of General Staff Sina Ibne Jamali, appeared before the subcommittee and claimed that the intelligence agencies had played no role in this regard as everything was done in line with the directives of the chief adviser and army chief.
But the education adviser to the then interim government, Ayub Quadri, had earlier in his statement accused a certain intelligence agency of fomenting the incident.
Violence erupted on 20 August, 2007 when some army men beat up three students and insulted a teacher during a football match on the university gymnasium field.
Thousands of DU students on the same day took to the streets to protest against the incident and demand withdrawal of the army camp from the campus. They also asked for an apology from the concerned troops.
There were pitched battles between the students and police for the next two days, which injured over 250 people, mostly students.
Courtesy of New Age
